3/16/2015

''' AND JOBS?....

TECH CLEAN-GREEN....

BUT JOBS? '''

I HAVE ALWAYS WONDERED -what exactly is the Developing World's understanding of the words ''Clean'', ''Green'', [revolution] -technology.

I for one, have never ever seen, any reference pertaining to these two words in their budget plans, development plans and even in projections. Maybe they are thinking more broadly than I am?

IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD, everything is just so feasible. Anything so possible, but subtly?!!........ You bet!?

THERE IS NO MORE fashionable solution to the current global recession than ''green jobs''.

Not too long ago, President Obama, Britain's Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy of France and China's Hu Jintao, all went about promoting clean-technology industries-

Like wind and solar power, or recycling saw grass as fuel.

At the time it sounded like the ultimate win-win deal : create jobs, cut down on energy dependence, and save the planet from global warming, all in one stimulus plan.

Ever since the recession began, governments, environmental groups, and even labour unions have been spinning out reports on just how many jobs might be created by these new industries - estimates that range from tens of thousands to millions.

Those kinds of predictions, however, maybe overoptimistic.

JUST SO RECENTLY -a new study from McKinsey points out, the clean energy industry-

Doesn't have much in common -with the old, labour-intensive manufacturing industries like steel and cars.

A more accurate comparison would be to the semi-conductor industry, which was also expected to create a boom in high-tech jobs but today employs mainly robots.

Green-tech workers -people who do things like design and build wind turbines or solar panels -now make up only 0.6% of the American workforce.

McKinsey figures that clean energy won't command much more of the total job market in the years ahead.

''The bottom line is that these 'clean' industries are too small to create the millions of jobs that are needed away,'' said James Manyika, a director at the McKinsey Institute.

On the other hand , a booming green sector could help fuel job growth in other industries. Here, too the story of the computer chip is instructive.

Today the big chip makers like Intel employ only 0.4% of the U.S. workforce, down from a peak of 0.6% in 2000. But indirectly they helped create millions of jobs by making other industries more efficient :

Throughtout the 1990s, new technologies based on advanced semiconductors helped firms achieve massive gains in labour productivity and efficiency.

Companies in retail, manufacturing, and many other areas got faster and stronger.

McKinsey and others say that the same process could play out today if governments focused less on building a ''green economy'' by which they really mean a clean-energy-industry-

And more on greening every part of the existing economy.

U.S. efforts to promote corn-based ethanol and giant German subsidies for the solar industry, for instance, are incredibly counter-productive.

In both cases the state is creating bloated, inefficient sectors, with jobs that are not likely to last.

A better approach would be to push businesses and consumers to do the basics, such as to improve building insulation and replace obsolete heating and cooling equipment.

For example, in places like California, 30% of of the summer energy load is sucked by air conditioning, so the state government now offers low-interest loans for consumers to replace old units with more efficient ones.

Consumers pay back the loans through their taxes and pocket the energy savings. When that money is spent, it drives demand and thus job growth in other areas.

The energy and efficiency savings that companies can achieve lead even more directly to jobs

The Honour and Serving of the ''operational research'' continues. Thank you for reading and see Ya all on the following one.

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